Suppose you want to drag some files to an Outlook message you have open to add them as attachments.

1. Select the files in Windows Explorer.
2. Click and drag the files over the message in the task bar.
3. Pause for a second and the message will be restored or brought to the front.
4. Drop your files onto it.

This works with just about anything, so it is not limited to dragging files to Outlook. I often have tons open at once (my task bar is set to hold 3 layers of entries), so this trick definitely saves me time.

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Drag And Drop To Hidden Or Minimized Applications

The linked article gives a very thorough overview of how styles work in Word 2007 and compares them to the old archaic method explained above, ‘direct formatting’. If you have not taken advantage of them already, styles are essentially a very easy way to apply a clean, consistent and polished look to your document.

Out of the box, Word 2007 ships with several impressive styles which can give your document a professional look in an instant. I use them all the time and hardly ever apply direct formatting anymore.

If you use Word, this is a feature you definitely need to know about.

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Take Advantage Of Microsoft Word Styles

Plug it into a wall socket and bam—a fully-functional Linux server that can store digital media accessible remotely via the internet or function as a remote print or web server. Plus, it supports “multiple standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions” and it operates on only 5-watts of power.

To me, this device is flat out awesome. Just plug in an external hard drive and you have an ultra lean, power efficient server. Compared to having to maintain a full system just to provide these simple services, the SheevaPlug is an ideal alternative for less than $100. The Wikipedia page offers numerous links to help you get started with whatever you want to do with it.

A significant factor which should not be overlooked is the power usage – or lack thereof. Considering a typical computer will easily pull 30-75 watts depending on the load (and that is being conservative), the SheevaPlug will actually pay for itself in power savings.

This is definitely on my wish list.

Does anyone already have a SheevaPlug (or another plug computer) they are using? If so, please share your experience in the comments.

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The Smallest Home Server Device Ever

So to help you get acclimated with these tools, here are a couple of resources:

• Guide to using Windows XP backup (note, this site is for a 3rd party product, but they give a really good guide for the XP tool)
• Windows Vista / 7 backup overview

Again, these tools are nothing fancy, but they are effective for getting the job done. It only takes a few minutes to set up an automatic backup plan, so if you don’t have one already, get to it.

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Using The Windows Backup Utilities

When it comes to email, there are many who prefer the convenience of web-based mail but wish there was a local application that looked and acted like a mail client. Zimbra Desktop is it. This software absolutely nails it in terms of friendliness, ease-of-use, convenience and everything in between.

First of all, it’s multi-platform. Windows, Mac or Linux. Any truly good application these days supports all three, and this does.

Second, it has support for multiple types of email:

Zimbra, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL Mail, two types of IMAP and POP.

It always pleases me when I see an offering by a major player like Yahoo! that is willing to support a competitor’s product like Hotmail or Gmail because it shows confidence in their own offering.

It should be noted however that only some Hotmail accounts are supported due to compatibility issues. Most will be, but if yours doesn’t connect, the software will explain why.

Third, look at this interface:

Slim, clean and super-easy. Look at the tabs on top. Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Documents and so on are all just a single click away. Folder support is easy too.

Oh, and speaking of which, did you ever want your Gmail account to have accessible "normal" folders like all other webmail does? It will when you use Zimbra. Simply add a folder via a connected Gmail account, and it will create nested folders that look and act just like normal ones – and yes they’re completely accessible via the regular Gmail interface as well.

Fourth, although this sounds a bit dopey I really dig it – a mail indicator icon in the taskbar in Windows when new mail arrives:

The yellow envelope is the new mail indicator. This seemingly insignificant feature is just so nice to have.

Fifth, yes it has multiple account support. In the screen shot above, look on the left sidebar. Your other accounts are listed at the bottom and can be accessed easily with a single click. If there is any new mail in accounts lists there, there is a small number in parentheses telling you how much new mail there is.

Sixth is the synchronization features. Using Yahoo Calendar and Contacts? It will sync seamlessly. Using Gmail’s version? It’ll sync that too.

It goes without saying that Yahoo! Mail users will appreciate Zimbra the most because it FINALLY brings a true native client to the desktop. This is Yahoo’s equivalent of Windows Live Mail and it does a fine job even though it’s beta software.

And yes, it’s beta. That means some things may go buggy from time to time. But in my use of it I’ve encountered no issues as of yet.

The way Zimbra works in Windows is by installing itself as a service. You will see a small red icon in your taskbar (when no new mail is present) like this:

This is not a bad thing whatsoever, because when the Zimbra client is minimized, it goes completely out of the way and shrinks to this little icon, which can be clicked to bring the client back up. In addition, it can be right-clicked to completely shut down the service.

Zimbra Desktop was definitely done right the first time. It is the only software I’ve seen that offers a true alternative to Windows Live Mail (especially if you don’t use Hotmail) and the feature set is just plain great.

Oh, one last note. This may be a frilly feature but still worth mentioning. It has 12 different themes you can use:

This is available via the Options tab.

Let’s say for example you want Zimbra to look like Gmail. You would choose "Zmail." This is what it looks like:

Looks pretty close to Gmail, doesn’t it?

Zimbra’s dev team really thought this product through.

As said at the top of this article, this is a product that accesses web-based mail but still retains the total look and feel of a local mail client – and has the very-super-awesome-cool sync features like Windows Live Mail does, so it isn’t an island unto itself whatsoever.

Two huge thumbs up for Zimbra Desktop. You’d be very hard pressed not to like this.

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Zimbra Desktop Is Just Plain Awesome

For the most part, unless you specifically installed these programs, they probably get installed by sneaky installers. For a more in-depth look at how this happens, check out this post titled “How Does Spyware, Malware or Crapware Get on My Computer?“.

It only took 2.5 hours to reach [a high level of garbage]…simply surfing wherever for “whatever looked interesting or different”, downloading things like screensavers, file-sharing applications, and installing questionable software from advertisements.

As I have said before, the most effective protection is education. If you can treat the problem instead of continually treating the the symptoms, you will not have this problem ever again.

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How Does “Garbage” End Up On Your Computer?

This page includes just about every browser you can think of and compares the native functionality of each. This information is extensive and detailed, unfortunately it can be a little hard to follow since there are so many charts. However, if you only want to see what browser supports “X”, this is a great resource.

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Detailed Browser Feature Comparison Chart

CSVed is a free (see below) utility which does a lot more than a text editor or Excel (without some macro/formula magic that is) does, including:

• change separator
• save filtered items
• remove duplicates
• add prefix and suffix

CSVed is designed for working with delimited files only, so it should do just about anything you would need. This tool is postcardware, so if you use it and like it, let the author know.

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Powerful Tool For Working With Delimited Text

Moving an application to the trash is simple and easy. Shouldn’t true uninstallation on the Mac be the same way?

With AppTrap, when you move an application to the trash, you’re automatically asked if you want to move the associated preference files as well. Now that’s uninstallation, the Mac way.

From the description, this seems like a pretty useful program as I imagine having to separately remove preference files would be rather annoying (if that type of thing bothers you). The program automatically detects any associated system files left over after you remove a program and lets you decide what to do. Simple enough.

AppTrap is free/open source and it may be a nice utility to have.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Fully Uninstall Mac Programs Easily

This post covers just about every type of security category you can imagine and lists several free (for the most part) programs you can choose from. There are also several suggestion made by other users as you scroll through the thread.

This is definitely a great way to get caught up on what is out there or find something new you might can use.

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Huge List Of Free Security Programs